Some 50 bloggers turned up for this. Those who spoke included Raja Petra Kamaruddin, Ruhanie Ahmad, Zaharin Yassin, Jeff Ooi, Syed Azidi aka Kickdefella, Susan Loone, Annuratha, Eric Woon, and Patrick Teoh. The pro-tem committee will meet soon to draw up the Constitution, identify sources of funding, and submit the necessary papers for the Registrar of Societies. The initial address for the Alliance is the office of Malaysiakini, the on-line news portal. Tea was subsidized by a Datuk blogger.

And may I add..it was Sheih 'kickdefella' blog owner that created the fantastic logo and spearhead the idea..now turned to reality.All should be very grateful to SHEIH....plus should convince him now to put the logo back at his site. Thanks.

A great start to national blogger unity. Hope the government doesn't get their way with blogger registration act. Hope the political or "serious" bloggers will count the rest of the online community as part of the clan eg food and entertainment blogs, IT blogs, lifestyle blogs, etc.

Bro…I really hope our association can become a place for all bloggers to come and have a number of brain storming session, not only pertaining to political issues but other issues as well. It might help in providing reliable and resourceful stories but at the same time it will become a centre of training for bloggers (as you had mentioned in your welcoming speech yesterday).

To me, blogging is a healthy hobby and a healthy therapy. To others, blogging may provide them the means to relay information (sometimes quicker than CNN news), share stories and photos and even just to nag and yack about what's going on and going wrong with their lives.

"Everyone's in it, so why not me?" is probably the question that goes into someone's head, when he or she starts to embark on blogging. As for myself, I was inspired to blog after seeing my sister blogged. Now, her blog is no longer bloggible (accessible) after she quits due to time constraints. By my blog still exists, with a mixed of entries from personal stories to current issues of interests.

Hmm..kudos to all..maybe this is just a beginning of bigger things to come..at least we know that when our complaints/grouses are ignored by the so called wakil rakyat, we will have our trusted bloggers to send the message across..you guys/gals are our online wakil rakyat..

I used to wonder what could bring the races together as ONE people. Was it ONE language, ONE culture or ONE school system?

Never did I imagine it is the one and only one internet, and it is ... the blogging community.

Whenever I become despondent and negative, I am reminded that we must live with hope because we must bring hope to those who will live in the future. I am reminded again and again of these sayings:• A blessing in disguise• Every cloud has a silver lining

For all bloggers with conscience I wish to say• May the force be with you• May you resist the temptation of the One Ring

Our conscience is in a constant struggle between good and evil, but if we live because we love others, we care for others – our families, posterity and humanity, I believe the good in us will give us the force to resist the evil ring of greed and selfishness.

I’m not feeling well. At first I felt unwilling to go, and felt it was unfair for me to go so soon, but I have changed my stance. If you don’t me see writing here anymore, it does not mean I’m not here. My spirit will be right here reading, sharing your burden and celebrating your success because I know that you will not stop fighting for the people I love.

Dignity,It is small initiatives like these and of course, Raja Nazrin's speech on Monday which gives us hopes and dreams(not Bedol's ZZZ dream). The 'Good in us' are responding and resisting bigotry and divisionary policies of certain coalition.

All bloggers and readers should be proud of the Alliance. The composition of the Exco has demonstrated that it has no racial bias at all - it is truly Malaysian!

And the fact that it is established in such a short time showed its dynamism, its seriousness in protecting the rights of bloggers and indirectly all human rights, and that it is capable of walking the talk - i.e BIKIN SERUPA CAKAP - TAHNIAH!!

Earlier in the day, I watched Riz Khan interviewing Yusuf Islam (once known as Cat Stevens ) and they talked of his cover of The Animals' "Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood", among other things.

And I just watched the 8-minute video on malaysiakini where Rocky talked of bloggers being misunderstood, among other things.

Can you guys see where I am going with this? Yes, Can I suggest that this song or at least a snatch of it be made the anthem of the Alliance.

But I'm just a soul whose intentions are goodOh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstoodBaby, sometimes I'm so carefreeWith a joy that's hard to hideAnd sometimes it seems that all I have do is worryThen you're bound to see my other sideBut I'm just a soul whose intentions are goodOh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood

To hear a sampling of yusuf's rendition, go to:http://tinyurl.com/3chfkh

This is a good move indeed as it will formalise the blogging movement in Malaysia and accord it the structure and mechanism of a serious and credible public platform (of information) - a kind of off-shore media whether it is upstream or downstream!

Implicit or explicit in the mission and objectives of this body must be the upholding of the principles of freedom of speech with responsibility; the articulation of views and opinions with facts or sound argumentation; the expression of ideas in a coherent, acceptable linguistic form; the search for "human or societal truth" based on the principles of GOD'S TRUTH.

If your members are honest, sincere, pure of heart, morally upright, Insya Allah your movement will achieve the recognition it deserves. If you manage to sow the seeds of integrity among Malaysians, especially the young yours will indeed be a worthy cause!

Your leaders have an arduous task ahead and must certainly walk their talk! The responsiblity is great!

Hey OFF, pls let me present yr 2nd para to the first exco meeting next week. And, Kerinchiguy, Yusof's cover of Burdon's original is fab. one person, is not quite happy with the setting up of the alliance. he is pasquale. he has accused me of fixing the outcome of the appointment of the pro-tem committee members. he calls me a friend but i don't know him. 3540 jalan sudin was asked by mat rempit hubris about this alleged fixing.

I am against the government action to try control the blogging society.It would be an excersice in futility.This is a case of few bad apples in the basket.

On the other hand, some bloggers brought it on to themselves. Quite recently, a blog(not this one) boasted of 50 million hits a month, which is astounding for a country with not more than 25 million people.If the figure given was true than one can assume that Malaysians, generally, has a malady for malicious rumors, profanities, and slander as can be seen in the incandiery responses from readers of the blog. Such irresponsible postings can rile up the masses. Racial slur and profanities are common language on this particular blog.If you are the government wouldn't you be worried with this kind of blogging ?

The so called harmony and tolerance in this country has a weak breaking point and our politicians knew it because it was created by them in the first place.

Guess you nice guys better take out the bad ones by not linking your blog with them and vice versa.

Hubris, thank you.Pasquale is right on one point - that I did not "whisper" to anyone at the bloggers' meeting to nominate him. I can't "whisper" to someone I do not know. Many people thought I knew who Pasquale was. I don't. Does he want people to know who he is? I don't know.

By the way, Mat Rempit, I think Old Female Fart is looking for you! She left a comment under my later posting "In search of a missing boy" ...

You, Rocky, and the NAB would have to tread carefully in the following months of the formation of the alliance.

Naysayers will always be there, but as long as the intention and execution is pure and truthful and smart and doesn't divert from its original goal, it should be all right. There will be no real ammunition to be used against you guys and the pro-tem committee.

Thinkl you guys have done all right for now. And in no way emulating DAP politicians.

Curiously Rocky- with the government now asking that all bloggers be registered, isn't this just another way to do just that? I'm assuming that if your member list gets out- effectively it means giving the government all the names of the bloggers.

Also, what about those unknown bloggers who use pseudonyms? How can they join?

I presume the NAB exco will handle the issue of membership terms and conditions, among other matters, as soon as possible.

Since NAB is a fee-based grouping with every intention of getting registered via the ROS, identity declaration will become mandatory. However, there is a key factor here which must be emphasized i.e. the choice to declare is yours and yours alone. It is voluntary.

You may wish to remain anonymous and/or use a pseudonym to blog and/or comment, in which case, the Bloggers United movement is there for this purpose.

I understand it is also NAB's purpose and responsibility to ensure that a person's freedom of choice to declare, register, etc is protected in accordance with the Federal Constitution as compared to the government's approach of requiring bloggers to register using legislative means.

Let me know if you need (or would like) any help in spreading your word about the cencorship taking place. No one should have to register to speak their mind.

Everything may be made to look political. No? I like peanut butter cookies. I buy a cookbook. There are no recipes for peanut butter cookies. Peanut butter cookies happen to be the favorite of the dictator of whatever country. All of a sudden, it is a political statement not to include peanut butter cookies! See?

Great start. Now follow it through and let me know. I'll do what I can to help.

This is a link to an article from the New York Times of 9 April 2007 that discusses proposals to develop a blogger code of conduct/guidelines to "bersihkan" and improve the quality of online discourse. For information.